There is a bridge in sunny
California that has just recently become the world’s most expensive bridge. The
bridge is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The bridge is a toll bridge and
has five lanes in total and connects San Francisco to Oakland through Yerba
Buena Island. The bridge was functional in 1936, approximately half a year
before the Golden Gate Bridge opened.

The Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 seriously
compromised the safety of one section of the bridge, especially if another
earthquake should hit the city. Because different strategies had continuously
been discussed about whether to repair or replace that section of the bridge,
and where the funding should come from, construction was slow to begin. A
decision was made to completely replace the entire section of bridge that had
been damaged and that the funding would come from the people who travelled
across it. The toll on the bridge has now been raised from three dollars to four
dollars. With 280,000 vehicles crossing the bridge every day, this is a major
source of funding.

January 2002 saw construction begin on the section
of the bridge and it should be completed by 2012. The cost of replacing this
section of bridge is approximately 6.3 billion dollars.